The Time We Leave Behind
by GlassSerendipity
Summary: PruCan Oneshot I wrote for Konoha-11-are-cool. High school reunion AU. Gil is heading for his ten year reunion when he runs into the woman he had almost forgotten. Prussia x fem!Canada


Gil walked with a little longer stride than usual. This was the night of his ten year high school reunion. He hadn't been back to that building in ages.

The night before he flipped through his old yearbook and counted how many times his picture showed up. 27. He had been pictured in the yearbook that senior year more often than anybody else.

Gil had practically been involved in everything at some point in his high school career. He had gotten kicked out of practically everything, too. But in that way, he got to meet a lot of people, and it made him think that made him pretty popular back then. A lot had changed since those days.

He was looking forward to seeing all his old classmates. Not like he had just gone drinking with the friends that mattered the night before or anything. He was most anxious to see his ex-girlfriend. She had the nerve to break up with him the end of their senior year to be with someone "more mature and understanding." They hadn't quite gotten along since then. Not that he wanted to get back together or anything. He just wanted to see her face when he actually showed up in a suit and everything.

He noticed he was walking a little too fast when he saw the back of some red high heels clicking close in front of him.

He slowed down and followed her legs up. He watched as she walked with a little extra sway in her step. Her legs were toned, and he could see them sacheting through the slit on the back her dress. The fabric squeezed tight against her curves, flattering her immensely. Falling to her lower back was a cascade of honey blonde curls. Her purse was clutched in her hand as she marched forward, determined. She was a very beautiful woman, and Gil would be an idiot if he didn't say anything.

"Who-ho-hoa! Who are you?" he asked rather loudly.

The woman turned around, causing Gil to stop dead in his tracks. Her eyes were a wide, blue-violet behind her half-rimmed glasses. Her red lips were formed an a rather surprised "o." He had definitely seen her before. He knew this woman.

"Gil?" Her voice wasn't the timid whisper he once knew. It was clear and sweet like a song bird.

"Maddie!" he exclaimed, finally recognizing her. If it was socially acceptable to run up behind a woman you hadn't talked to in ten years and hug her, Gil would have done it. Luckily, he thought better. Just because she looked incredibly squeezable doesn't mean she wanted to be squeezed so affectionately. Besides, they only had a couple of classes together. She'd probably get a little freaked out. "God, it's been forever! You look so..."

"Thin?" she added in tentatively.

"Confident!" Gil corrected her. "It's hot!"

A pale pink hue came over her face as she blushed prettily. "Oh...um...thank you..." Her voice faded softer, confirming this was indeed the girl he once knew.

"Hey, you should let me get you a drink! It's the least I can do considering you're the reason I passed biology," Gil offered.

"I...um...I'm pretty sure it's an open bar..." she said.

"Even better! I'll get you as many drinks as you want," Gil said. He walked side by side with Maddie all the way up to the entrance of their high school.

Gil's friend Francis was working the front table since he had been part of both the newspaper and yearbook clubs.

"Gil, I didn't know you were bringing a guest!" Francis said as he observed the stunning woman by his best friend's side.

"W-we're not together," Maddie stammered out. "I'm Madeline Williams."

"Oh yeah, I remember you." Gil seriously doubted Francis could remember her. He just wanted to look cool. Francis made two check marks on his list then pulled out two stickers.

Gil scratched his name onto the name tag a little too big, overflowing outside the little white box. It resembled something like chicken scratch. Maddie wrote her name carefully in neat, flowing script.

"So, what have you been up to?" Gil asked Maddie as they walked to the gym.

"I'm currently working on my residency to become a pediatrician," Maddie said.

"You're a doctor! That's awesome!" Gil said. "I always knew you were smart! That's a lot of school, man."

"What about you?" she asked back politely.

"Oh, I dropped out of college," Gil said.

"Really?" His answer had surprised Maddie.

"Yeah, I didn't really like it. My brother and I started up a business. He's really the brains behind the whole thing, but I set up the website."

"What sort of business is it?" Maddie asked, intrigued.

Gilbert grinned. "We make and repair clocks."

"Really?!" Maddie hadn't been expecting that. No one ever did.

"And I'm talking the fancy stuff. Grandfather, cuckoo, watches, you name it," Gilbert bragged.

He looked up over the crowd and saw what he was looking for. "Come on, I think I see the bar!"

While dragging Maddie along with him to the bar, Gil ran into a familiar face.

"Well, look who it is," her voice sarcastically called out.

Gil tried to look blasé to his ex-girlfriend but was incredibly thrown off his guard when he noted her huge stomach.

"Wow Lizzie, let yourself go much?" he snickered.

Lizzie crossed her arms, clearly tired of his antics. "I'm pregnant, you insufferable ass."

"Who's the father?" he asked.

That's when Lizzie's husband approached. He glared at Gil and possessively put his arm around Lizzie.

"No really," Gil continued to laugh. "Who's the father?"

Lizzie sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh grow up, Gil."

"I didn't think Roddy had it in him," Gil went on.

It took Lizzie a while to notice the girl Gil was stringing along. "Who's she?" she asked brusquely, apparently in a bad mood.

"I'm..." Maddie started.

"Jealous, Lizzie?" Gil interupted. "You should be. This lovely lady gets to drink with me tonight while you remain sober with swollen ankles and a lame husband. Have a nice life!"

Gil quickly got back on track to get to the bar.

"By the way," he said back to Maddie. "You don't have to drink with me if you don't want to."

"I take it you and Lizzie aren't going out anymore," Maddie said in reflection to Gil and Lizzie's last conversation.

"Yeah, we broke up ages ago," Gil said. "What do you want to drink?"

"I'll just take a beer," Maddie said.

"Two beers," Gil said, holding up two fingers.

"I guess, you're not quite over her, huh?" Maddie said. She accepted the little plastic cup Gil handed her.

"Ha! What makes you think that?" Gil said.

Maddie raised a single eyebrow as she sipped in her cup. "I mean, you were going out for a long time."

Gil pointed to her forehead. "Very impressive with the eyebrows, by the way. That's just how Lizzie and I are. Ever since kindergarten. It would have been even more awkward if I hadn't poked fun at her."

"So, you are saying it was awkward," Maddie confirmed.

Gil chugged down half of his beer. "Maybe a tiny bit. I can't help it. Most people aren't as bitter as me quite yet. Day in and day out, I'm just sitting around watching my life literally tick by, knowing that each second that passes is an unattainable and fleeting as the ones ten years ago." Gil finished off the rest of his beer. "I can't go back even if I wanted to."

Gil turned to Maddie. "Sorry, Maddie. Didn't mean to bum you out or anything." He loosened the uncomfortable tie around his neck. "So, who are you dressed to impress?"

Maddie finished off her beer quickly, disguising the red in her face with the burning alcohol.

"Oh come on! You never showed up to class in a getup like that! Spill! Everyone here is dressed up for someone."

"It's just...it's just embarrassing."

"Why? You got the hots for a teacher?" Gil teased through a grin.

"I...had this silly little crush on my lab partner," Maddie said.

Gil burst out laughing. "Me? Really? I had no idea!"

"It was a long time ago. You were still going out with Lizzie, so I couldn't really say anything," Maddie said. She looked down at her name tag and tried to smooth the curling edges as they tried to pull away from her dress.

"Well, that just made my night, but why me?" They hadn't exactly known each other that well.

"Um, well, you actually treated me like a person, like I wasn't useless or invisible, and that was important to me in high school. You were also the only guy who never called me by my nickname," Maddie said.

Gil wracked his brains, trying to think of what it was.

"Fattie Maddie," she clarified.

"Right! That's the reason I got kicked out of the engineering club! I always wondered why I was so pissed at that guy. He called you that, so I kicked his ass." He remembered Maddie had been a little chubbier back then, but that sort of high school bull shit had never really mattered to him. All that mattered was that she was nice and patient enough to baby him through that ridiculous course.

"You did that for me?" Maddie asked incredulously.

"Of course! You were awesome! I bet those guys are all regretting that now. You look so hot, it's not even funny."

"Y-you don't mean that..."

"It's true! There isn't a guy here that doesn't wish they were with you right now. No man in their right mind could ever pass up such a smart, gorgeous woman like you," Gil said.

"Does that include you?"

At that moment, for some strange reason, Gil was picking up some very strong signals. He decided it was worth a shot. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. It only took a moment for Maddie's hand to come to his face. Gil almost thought she would slap him, but instead she held him there tenderly. Gil certainly wasn't expecting this turn of events, but he wasn't exactly complaining.

When they parted, Maddie looked down demurely and pushed her hair behind her ear.

"So...are you free anytime soon?" Gil asked with a nervous laugh.

"I'm free right now," Maddie said.

It took a while for that to register in his brain. "A-alright, cool! Let's blow this joint! I'll buy you a real drink."

And so, Maddie and Gil decided to ditch the reunion and leave their high school far behind them.

The End.

**AN: Wrote this for Konoha-11-are-cool. I hope you enjoyed this little PruCan oneshot.**


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